


A Charmed Past

by camichats



Category: Charmed (TV 1998)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Brotherly Love, Family Dynamics, Gen, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-26
Updated: 2020-03-26
Packaged: 2021-02-23 01:16:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,586
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23336755
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/camichats/pseuds/camichats
Summary: Step One: Follow Chris into the pastStep Two: Goddamnit he forgot to account for his powers. Ask Chris to help him get them back?? Maybe Mom/Aunt Phoebe/Aunt Paige if they're around...
Relationships: Chris Halliwell & Wyatt Halliwell
Comments: 13
Kudos: 138





	A Charmed Past

**Author's Note:**

> I'm playing around with Wyatt's characterization, so he's more lighthearted in this

Wyatt had single-minded focus. Combined with his raw power, it was what made him so dangerous. He had a goal and he was going to accomplish it, no matter what. Chris was different; he had a goal and he had five different plans for how he could make it happen without anyone knowing it was him or even knowing what the goal  _ was _ . It was why they'd worked so well together, back when Chris had actually been working with him. 

This situation, for example, would've been made better if Chris had been the one to plan it. In fact, when Chris had done  _ the exact same thing _ , it went better. But Wyatt no, he'd been so focused on following after his brother and getting him back that he'd forgotten one very important detail: when you went to the past, your powers didn't go with you. 

There was no way Chris had made this mistake. Going to the past to change their lives without his powers? It'd be suicide. Either he brought his powers with him, or he found a way to restore them after he got there. Wyatt hoped that it was the second one and also that Chris was willing to share, because as it stood, Wyatt was powerless in an unfamiliar world. Sure he could fight hand to hand and with a sword when he had to, but he was used to his powers, and more importantly, he was used to healing himself. Without that, he was a sitting duck in the grand scheme of powers. 

But powerless or not, Wyatt knew how to get by from when he did undercover work. A swipe here on a busy street and he had some money. He pocketed the cash and left the rest of the wallet on a restaurant's outside table. He walked for a while, a little lost in this world that wasn't very familiar, and stole a little more. It was enough for a snack (because he hadn't eaten in a while) and cab fare to the Manor. He didn't want to show up completely unprepared, so he tested a quick spell before hailing a cab. It was a stupid spell he'd come up with when he was a kid, and all it did was send a gust of wind in the surrounding area. He chanted under his breath, "Bring to me the wind, Zephyr's power lend," and waited to see what-- if anything-- happened. A strong breeze went through the street, and Wyatt breathed a sigh of relief as it blew his hair in his face. 

Of course, that brought up the fact that he needed a hoodie or jacket or something because all black was a little conspicuous in the nice part of the city in broad daylight. Without his powers, he couldn't afford for his hair to get in his face in the possibility of a fight, so he needed a hair-tie as well. He was a decent pickpocket, but full on thievery was a bit beyond what he was capable of right now. 

A quick-- if childish-- incantation later, and he had both items. When they were kids, Chris had made fun of him for his rhymes, but he'd never had any reason to refine it. Spells could backfire; his powers couldn't, and his powers were more reliable anyways. He'd have to go light on the spells or risk retribution for 'personal gain' which was definitely not something he had missed. 

He pulled the hoodie over his head and tied his hair at the base of his neck, then walked in a gas station and bought a granola bar. Now that he wasn't dressed all in black, people weren't quite as prone to avoiding him. It made him blend in more, but it also meant that they were more likely to bump into him, which he wasn't a fan of. He ate the granola bar in quick bites as he walked to a more busy street and flagged down a taxi. This not being able to orb business was a real pain in the ass. 

Wyatt watched the houses pass, the bright colors untainted by riots and the sickly miasma that had taken over pretty much the entire world by the time he'd come to power. It wasn't easy to get used to this, but hopefully he wouldn't have to. He'd talk to Chris, make him realize that what he was trying to do was completely unhinged, and then they could go back to where they belonged. And if things went spectacularly well, he'd be able to pull it off before Chris realized he was powerless and decided to use that to his advantage. Once, he would've thought that his brother would absolutely help him get back his powers as soon as he found out, but Chris was a bit of a wild card these days. He couldn't count on much of anything with him. Wyatt knocked his fingers on the glass to get the cabbie's attention. "Here's fine." He paid him, then got out of the car and started making his way towards the manor. It was a bit of a walk since he hadn't wanted to get dropped off on the front stoop, but it gave him time to try and think of a plan. 

He made it to Prescott Street without having any good ideas, and then he made it up the stairs and was still drawing a blank. Whatever, plans never worked with Chris anyways. He rang the doorbell, then waited. Phoebe was the one to answer the door, and she looked much younger than the last time he'd seen her. She'd aged well, of course, but she was what, thirty right now? No amount of well aging could replace youth. 

"Can I help you?" she asked, half nice and half suspicious. Given the number of times demons turned up on the doorstep, that was fair. 

"I'm here to see Chris, is he around?" 

She gave him another look, then-- probably sensing no ill intentions-- yelled over her shoulder, "Chris!" A long moment with no answer and she held up one finger to him. "Just a second." She closed the door, but it did nothing to muffle the sound from when she screamed his name again, this time loud enough for everyone in the house to hear her. 

Wyatt sighed and leaned against the wall as he waited. 

It took a minute, but then there was the sound of footsteps and Chris and Phoebe arguing. The words were impossible to make out at first, but he caught the tale end of Phoebe saying, "Well if it's a demon you can face him first, it's not really my problem. Don't worry, I won't let him kill you. Besides, he looked pretty human to me." 

"Phoebe, I don't have time for-" 

She opened the door, and Chris stopped cold, eyes going wide. 

Wyatt couldn't help but be amused by that. "Hi Chris." 

"What the  _ fuck _ are you doing here?" 

"I take it that means you aren't happy to see me," Wyatt said, at the same time Phoebe said, "Chris!" 

Chris clenched his jaw. "Phoebe, can you give us a minute?" 

"Does this mean he's not a demon?" she asked, but she already knew the answer to that. 

"Are you giving us a minute or not?" 

"Well I'm just saying-" 

Chris rolled his eyes and stepped outside, shutting the door closed. 

"Oh come on!" she yelled through the door, then threw up her hands and walked away. 

"What are you doing here?" Chris hissed. "And since when do you ring the doorbell? Or dress incognito?" 

"I learned a touch of subtlety in your absence," he said drily. 

Chris stared at him for a second. "You don't have your powers, do you." 

"No," he admitted, because lying to Chris didn't work. 

"For god's sake, Wyatt, did you chase me to the past and not think about it?" 

Wyatt glared at him. 

"Oh my god. How did you plan on bringing me back? I'm not going to go willingly, and without your powers, you can't force me." 

"I was hoping you'd help me get them back. You still have yours, after all." 

"You expect me to give you your powers back so you can force me back to the future," Chris said flatly. 

"Anything's going to sound bad when you use that tone for it, Chris." 

"How would you make it sound good?" 

"If you don't help me, there's a high probability a demon will kill me." 

For an instant, it worked. Chris was worried about Wyatt's wellbeing and he was about to agree that it was for the best if Wyatt had his powers. But then he remembered that here in the past, he wasn't in immediate danger. "That's- no, that's not going to happen. No one knows who you are, and if you stay here, the sisters will be able to protect you from any stray fireballs." 

"You want me to stay  _ here _ ?" was Wyatt's immediate response. Then he said, "Wait, 'the sisters'?" Wyatt had had a bit of a falling out with Aunt Phoebe and Aunt Paige after he took over the Underworld and stopped hiding that knowledge from them, but Chris had gotten along with them to their bitter end. He wouldn't be calling them that unless... "Did you not tell them who you are? Holy shit Chris, and I thought  _ I _ had poor planning." 

"I couldn't just waltz up to the doorway and announce that you were going to turn evil and by the way, I'm his brother." 

"You can't waltz," was all he said to that. 

Chris glared at him. "You are so damn annoying." 

"If you couldn't tell them before, I don't see why that's changed now." 

"It's changed because you're  _ here _ , dumbass." 

"You're the one that didn't tell them who your mother was." It was fun to do this again without the safety of the entire world at risk; if demons saw them bickering like they were still kids, they'd attack. Demons  _ always _ thought they could run the place better than Wyatt, and the casualty would end up being Chris. But there weren't any demons here to see them, and it's not like they were wasting time. No matter when they left the past, they'd get back to their time at the same point. And even if he happened to be wrong about that, he'd get his powers back when they got back to the right time, and he'd be able to get everything back under his control. "How is it that you can be so smart about everything except family?" 

"Oh let me guess, this is when you tell me that it's pointless to try and resist your rule so I might as well join you before I reach the same end?" 

"I wouldn't let that happen." 

"Really?" Chris said, raising an eyebrow. "Because you don't have any active powers right now. It kind of looks like you aren't in a position to let or not let anything happen." 

"Nothing's going to happen to either of us in this time," Wyatt said, rolling his eyes. 

"You sound awfully sure about that for a guy that can't orb." 

"You can keep trying to rub it in, but it's not going to do you any good." 

"Let me get this straight, I refuse to help you get your powers back and you're cool with it, but when I let off a confetti cannon on your  _ birthday _ , that was unacceptable." 

Wyatt gave him a flat look. "You did it during my official coronation." 

"You were already in charge, you didn't  _ need _ a coronation." 

"Demons like their rituals, even if they're unnecessary." 

"I don't see what was so bad about it. The place needed the color, it was all brown rock and cave wall." 

"I had to kill ten demons, Chris." Because they'd automatically thrown energy balls at the disturbance, which meant they'd nearly killed Chris, and Wyatt hadn't really  _ meant _ to kill them but protecting Chris had always been a reflex. It hadn't been a good look for his coronation, but there wasn't anything the rest of the Underworld could do about it. 

"Like I said, I don't see what's so bad about that." 

"You're a pain in the ass," Wyatt said, but there was no heat behind it. 

"You could've avoided me being a pain in the ass for a while if you'd stayed in the future where you belong." 

"Are you really that unhappy to see me? It's been a long time since we could have a conversation without you trying to lecture me about good versus evil and personal gain." 

"That's what you think ruined our conversations? Not-- I dunno-- your being the evil ruler of the entire world?" 

"See? Like that." 

Chris rolled his eyes. Before they could keep arguing with each other, the door opened, this time with Piper standing there. Baby Wyatt was on her hip, and this was already one of the weirdest experiences of his life. "Uh Chris? Yeah hi," she said with a terse smile, "I don't know what you're busy doing, but we could use you inside. Not to trivialize what Paige is going through, but she's having another identity crisis and we could use our whitelighter to talk some sense into her." 

"Does that ever work?" Wyatt asked. 

"No," Chris said. "Piper, we've got bigger problems than Paige's temp job kick or saving Richard quest." 

"Uh huh, and how's that?" 

He hooked a thumb over his shoulder to point at Wyatt. "This is Wyatt. From the future." 

"What? But- Chris you said he was dead." 

Wyatt laughed. "What?" 

" _ No _ , I said evil gets to him, which it does." 

"He looks fine," she said, peering at him and holding her baby tighter unconsciously. "You're Wyatt?" 

"Yeah. Hi Mom, it's been a while." 

Her face fell. "Do we not get along in the future?" 

"You're dead," Wyatt said bluntly. "You have been for a while. And Chris thinks I'm evil because I took over the Underworld, he's always been pretty narrow minded." 

"I'm sorry, what? You- you took over the Underworld. Like you became the new Source?" 

Well that tone didn't sound good. "It was better than letting demons fight over it. And no, the Source's powers have a will of their own, I wasn't risking it." 

"Yeah, cause just being the regular king of hell was so much better." 

"Shut up." 

"Do you two know each other?" 

"Why yes we do," Wyatt said with a shit eating grin. 

"Wyatt-" Chris said warningly, but Wyatt ignored him. 

"He's my brother." 

Chris glared at him, and Piper's eyes went wide. 

"Chris...?" 

"You're such a dick," he muttered, and Wyatt just smiled wider. It had been a while since he had this much fun. Being ruler of the world didn't lend to a lot of relaxation time, and he had an image to uphold anyways. 

"Besides, Mom, as you can see, I don't need saving. I'm just here to bring Chris back before he can mess up the timeline." 

"Right, because telling her that was so great for the timeline. Look Piper, it's nothing to worry about. Wyatt doesn't have his active powers, so he can't do any damage here. All we have to do is follow the original goal and we'll be fine." 

"Get inside." 

"Uh, Piper are you-" 

" _ Now _ ." 

Wyatt and Chris shared a look, which boiled down to  _ Shit, we're in for it now _ . 


End file.
